The face of healthcare has changed significantly by open government policies that embraces technology. To accelerate the adoption of digital health, Indian government through Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has started various eHealth initiatives.

Healthcare technology improves the quality of healthcare delivery, increases patient safety, decreases medical errors, and strengthens the interaction between patients and healthcare providers

The market forces, growing millennial population and technology adoption has rapidly transformed healthcare in the last decade or so. There is a higher dependency on digital technology, providers are leveraging smarter decision systems and patients are more aware than ever about their healthcare needs. In addition, many infrastructural and policy changes that has put it on the world map of one of the fastest growing healthcare economies. Supportive government policies along with high digital index adoption by consumers have played a very crucial role in driving the growth of the digital healthcare market. Growth of evolving data technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), and Big Data analytics have specifically helped in defining the shape of Indian digital healthcare market.

The face of healthcare has changed significantly not only through technology adoption by the consumers or deep investments by VCs into the med-tech startup space but also by open government policies that embraces technology. To accelerate the adoption of digital health, Indian government through Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has started various eHealth initiatives. The initiatives’ aim is to deliver better health outcomes which includes improved access to therapy, higher quality of care, cost-effective treatment options for the masses, focus on preventive care and efficient monitoring of health entitlements - both at the patient as well community level. By incorporating technology and analytics as part of mainstream healthcare, a passage of new avenues for patient centered delivery of care has been created.

Similary, eHealth was initiated in 2017 as a workflow-based ICT solution for hospitals in the government sector. Patients with access to the Internet can register themselves with the e-Hospital to access and view their medical records while their physicians, through a pre-consented process, can use their data to provide remote suggestions and medical devices. The pharmacy component of the platform can reduce the errors and hence provide a more efficient drug-dispense process.

While these programs – both government funded as well as those implemented by the private corporations, definitely help in increasing the availability, accessibility and affordability of health care services, it is pivotal to complement these initiatives with an outcome-based approach focused on implementation. The government does realize that making health more equitable, accessible and available are the most daunting challenges facing healthcare system. The policy makers and those behind this push do realize that the healthcare industry needs to move beyond conventional growth such as increasing hospitals and physicians every year, and instead adopt models that disrupt the current operating structure. With these public-private partnerships, government funding and rise of healthcare technology, there is a legit potential to mitigate some of these decade long issues in the  healthcare infrastructure. What we need to look at is how these technologies could be adapted for the low and middle-income families to provide innovative but cost-effective solutions.

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